A retired Supreme Court of Canada justice, a supporter of Indigenous artists, and two cancer researchers are among the latest group of Queen’s alumni and faculty to be appointed to the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours.
Former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Thomas Cromwell, Mus’73, LLB’76, was made a Companion of the Order of Canada for “his illustrious service as a Supreme Court justice, and for his leadership in improving access to justice for all Canadians.” Justice Cromwell served on Canada’s top court for eight years before retiring in September 2016. Companion is the highest level of the Order of Canada and is bestowed to people for national pre-eminence or international service or achievement.
“Queen’s has an alumni community filled with great leaders and dedicated volunteers who have spent years tirelessly working to make Canada a better place. I am very happy the Order of Canada is giving some of these talented alumni the recognition they deserve,” says Sue Bates, Artsc’91, the president of the Queen’s University Alumni Association.
Here are the other members of the Queen’s community being honoured:
- Paul Armstrong, Arts'63, MD’66 – The Edmonton-area doctor is a pioneer in the area of acute cardiac care. He helped develop procedures to treat heart attacks in the field before a person reaches a hospital, increasing the odds of survival. Dr. Armstrong is currently an adjunct professor in the School of Medicine.
- Marie Delorme, MBA’00 – The Calgary entrepreneur and philanthropist is being celebrated for “her entrepreneurial leadership and for her commitment to promoting opportunities for women and Indigenous peoples in Canada.” She is the CEO of The Imagination Group, an organization of companies that sells and helps promote the works of Indigenous artists.
- Jocelyn Downie, Artsci’84, MA’85 – The Dalhousie University law professor is best known for her work in Canadian health law and policy, especially end-of-life issues such as voluntary euthanasia, assisted suicide, terminal sedation, and unilateral withholding or withdrawal of potentially life-sustaining treatment.
- Elizabeth Eisenhauer, MD'76 — Dr. Eisenhauer is being recognized for her contributions and leadership within the field of clinical cancer care in Canada. She is the former head of the Department of Oncology at Queen’s and former director of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG). She has held leadership roles with several national cancer research organizations, including President of the National Cancer Institute of Canada.
- Mary Law, Artsci’73 – Dr. Law is a professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. She is the co-founder of CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research and studied factors in communities that help and hinder children with disabilities when it comes to daily activities. She is being honoured for “her transformative work in the field of occupational therapy.”
- Kathleen Pritchard, Arts'69, MD’71 – Dr. Pritchard is a senior scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto. She is being recognized for her leadership of national and international breast cancer clinical trials. She was the first to show that tamoxifen, a hormonal therapy used to treat breast cancer, is effective in premenopausal women who have cancer that has spread elsewhere in the body. Dr. Pritchard is also a member of the Queen’s Board of Trustees.
- R. Kerry Rowe – Dr. Rowe is being honoured for his contributions to the field of geoenvironmental engineering, notably for his pioneering research in waste barrier systems. Dr. Rowe is a faculty member of the Department of Civil Engineering, and former Vice-Principal (Research) at Queen’s.
- David Sinclair Artsci’69, PhD’72, LLD’12 – Dr. Sinclair is a distinguished research professor at Carleton University who previously taught at Oxford University. He is being recognized “for his exceptional contributions to the field of experimental sub-atomic physics and for his leadership as a founding director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory project.”
- Jean Weihs, Arts’51 – She has worked as a school librarian and in university, public, and special libraries as a reference librarian and bibliographer. She has written many books on library science issues and served on national committees. She has been praised for her work on the issue of standardization of the non-book cataloguing system.
In related news, athlete Stef Reid, Artsci’06, has been awarded a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her service to Paralympic sport. Ms. Reid, who lives in London, won gold in long jump at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championship and silver at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. She was a board member for the organizing committee of the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships, which took place in London. She is also a motivational speaker and model.
The 10 members of the Queen’s community were among 125 new appointments made to the Order of Canada, which were announced on Dec. 29, 2017. They will be honoured at a special ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa later this year.
The Order of Canada was established in 1967 by Queen’s alumnus and Member of Parliament John Matheson, Arts’40, LLD’80. He said the Tricolour Society at Queen’s served as a model for the Order of Canada.
